On 24 November 2007, the Australian Body Politic had a Heart/Brain transplant. So far, it seems the patient is making a good recovery, but we shall monitor progress. As of 31 December 2007, the patient has been moved out of "Intensive Care".
There was a period of uncertainty, under Kevin Rudd, and then Julia Gillard. On 14 September 2010 Julia Gillard was sworn in as Prime Minister, by the Governor General.

Thursday, 14 February 2008

Pity the poor Doctor

Crikey has a sensitive report on Brendan Nelson's position as Leader of the Opposition (he gets that job as Leader of the Liberal Party, in case you cannot remember. There is another Party in there too somewhere, but don't worry about that.) Anyway, I digress.

Crikey starts off by reporting that Tony Abbott had dinner with the Director of the Liberal Party, Brian Loughnane, last night. Following on the Apology, one can only assume they were dining on Nelson Stew. Poor Brendan. Supposedly a human being resides within his thin skin. Rumour has it that deep down he is a sensitive soul. But he is answerable to Nick Minchin, etc. Nick in turn has to deal with the real bad-arse dudes in the Party. Ironbar Tuckey made a point of attending hte opening prayers, and then leaving. My local Member (Alby Schultz) didn't turn up. I await a response from Alby to confirm that he really had double-booked himself, and chose a more important event than the first day of business in the new Parliament.

Anyway, that is the scene inside the Liberal Party. A rag-tag bunch of misanthropes, who feel aggrieved that they are no longer in office, and in Tony Abbott's case, are deeply hurt that they are now lost somewhere down the pecking order on Shadow Ministers and "also-rans". So there might have been a little Schadenfreude sauce on Tony Abbott's plate last of Sweet-and-Sour at "The Chairman and Yip", last night, in Canberra.

And so, back to Dr Nelson's speech on "The Apology". As Crikey reports today:

Without a trace of irony, Nelson told MPs in his speech in reply: "Now knowing who you are is the source of deep, scarring sorrows, the real meaning of which can be known only to those who have endured it." The former medico and ALP activist from Tasmania could have been talking about himself.